_Says move will strip none state actors of historic content to mobilize support_
A peacebuilding think tank, Foundation for Peace Professionals also known as PeacePro has called on the federal government of Nigeria to name the 6 geo-political zones of Nigeria after historic memory.
PeacePro also said that, the naming of the Geo-political zones will help address some of the fundamental issues being used by none state actors to mobilize public support in their quest for regional solidarity.
In a statement by the Executive Director of PeacePro, Mr Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the group said the description of Nigeria’s 6 geo-political zones simply as North West, South West, North East, South East and North Central,South South is of no political significance, hence the need to adopt a more political conscious approach to closing the gap of regional agitation.
According to Hamzat, the federal government should name the 6 zones properly, to reflect the desire and aspiration of the people.
“People in various zones of Nigeria identify themselves by certain names and descriptions and running away from such political identity will naturally make them feel entitled to those identities”
“This is why none state actors simply invoke those identities, to which people have affinity and connections, to mobilize them in their quest for relevance ” Hamzat said.
He therefore proposed that, the South West region should be named Oduduwa region, North West named Arewa Region, South East renamed Biafra Region, North East named Kanem Borno Region, South South named Niger Delta region and North Central named Middle Belt region.
Hamzat maintained that, the naming of these regions has political implication, because none state actors often use these names as rallying point to create division amongst the people in their quest to mobilize support for their activities and officially adopting these names automatically stripes them of existing and historical concept to mobilize none suspecting members of the public for their divisive activities.
